Three women arrested for attacking PTR's car

Thiaga Rajan’s car was attacked on Saturday when he was returning after paying his last respects to a man killed by terrorists in J&K

Three BJP women cadres were arrested Tuesday in connection with the attack on the official vehicle of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan when a slipper was thrown at his car outside the Madurai Airport on Saturday.

Saranya, Dhanalakshmi, and Deivanai – all members of the BJP Mahila Morcha – were being interrogated by the police after recording their arrest. This takes the number of arrests in the case to 10. Seven persons arrested over the weekend have been remanded to judicial custody.

Thiaga Rajan’s car was attacked on Saturday when he was returning after paying his last respects to Rifleman D Lakshmanan, who was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Videos captured by television channels showed BJP supporters blocking Thiaga Rajan’s car and the patrol vehicle as they got out of the Madurai Airport. The footage also showed a slipper being thrown at the vehicle and landing on the front part of the car.

DMK mouthpiece Murasoli on Tuesday carried a hard-hitting editorial condemning the attack on Thiaga Rajan. “It is now clear that the BJP doesn’t know anything beyond throwing slippers and vandalising statues. We would like to warn them that they will be political orphans if they think they can help grow their party by keeping people on tenterhooks,” the editorial read.

The Tamil Nadu government squarely blamed state BJP chief K Annamalai for breaking military protocols for a photo opportunity. Reacting to the incident, the minister posted four pictures of the event, including one in which BJP cadres are seen clicking pictures of Annamalai paying his respects, and asked people to find the “odd man out”.

“Formal honours for the martyr on arrival at Madurai. Spot the odd man out...It should be clear now why I said we should adhere to protocol & avoid such publicity-seeking scenes, and why I decline to engage in debates with such people,” he wrote. Chief Minister M K Stalin also condemned the attack accusing the BJP cadres of “disrespecting the national flag” as Thiaga Rajan’s car on which a slipper was thrown had sported a tricolour.